In order to deliver a stent to a deployment site within a patient, the stent is crimped onto a balloon catheter which is then advanced along a guide wire through the patient's vasculature. Once in position, the balloon is temporarily inflated to expand and thereby deploy the stent. Any combination of frictional, mechanical and/or adhesive forces may be relied upon to maintain the stent in position on the balloon prior to deployment as the catheter is advanced through the vasculature. It is essential for the stent remain precisely positioned on the balloon even while being advanced along a tortuous path as any misalignment relative to the balloon can be problematic during expansion. Quantification of a stent's ability to resist dislodgement is of interest for a variety of purposes including for quality control as well for the purpose of evaluating and comparing the performance of different stent and stent delivery system combinations. Previously used methods have introduced extraneous forces that have an adverse effect on the accuracy of a measurement, typically because a force normal to the stent is relied upon to grasp or retain the stent while the catheter is being pulled therefrom. Such additional force can serve to apply additional crimp to the stent and thereby artificially increase its resistance to dislodgement. The ability to more accurately and repeatably measure the force necessary to dislodge the stent from the balloon is most desirable.